The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 7
子曰：「人皆曰『予知』，驅而納諸罟擭陷阱之中，而莫之知辟也。人皆曰『予知』，擇乎中庸，而不能期月守也。」
The Master said "Men all say, 'We are wise'; but being driven forward and taken in a net, a trap, or a pitfall, they know not how to escape. Men all say, 'We are wise'; but happening to choose the course of the Mean, they are not able to keep it for a round month."
English: James Legge (1861), The Doctrine of the Mean, The Chinese Classics vol. 1 (1861); romanization modernized on Wikisource — public domain. Chinese: Chinese text from the Wikisource bilingual edition.
Character glossary
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 人rénman, person; people
- 皆jiēall, every, everybody
- 予yǔto give; to award
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 驅qūto spur a horse on; to expel, to drive a
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 納nàto adopt, to accept; to receive, to take
- 諸zhūall, many, various; surname
- 罟gǔnet, snare; to implicate
- 擭wòtrap catch animals, snare; seize
- 陷xiànto sink, to plunge; trap, pitfall
- 阱jǐngtrap, snare, pitfall
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 中zhōngcentral; center, middle; amidst; to hit
- 莫mòcannot; do not; is not; negative
- 辟pìlaw, rule; to open up, to develop
- 也yěalso, too
- 擇zéto select, to choose
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 庸yōngusual, common, ordinary, mediocre
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 期qīa period of time; date, time; phase
- 月yuèmoon; month
- 守shǒuto defend, to guard, to protect; to cons
Similar passages
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 8
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Mencius 6A.10
- Mencius 5A.3
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Mencius 1A.7
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.